Wilderness Fiction

William’s life had been tragically altered as a youth, now his life is about to change once again. William thought that he and his little brother could now live in relative peace, using their gifts in secret while working on the ranch they stumbled upon as children. However, his existence will become jeopardized, and he will have to find a way to make it through more tragedy. Zane was neglected by his father, pampered by his mother; the one connection he craved was with William, but the youth’s younger brother prevented it.

In 1832, life in the Rocky Mountains was filled with danger and mystery. Indian legends held that deep in secluded valleys lurked bizarre creatures bent on destroying man. Although Indians shunned such places, courageous settlers like Nathaniel King willingly braved these forbidden areas. But when Nate led a hunting expedition into a valley where one of these monsters was said to live, several of his fellow hunters were viciously slain.

Loving her adventurous life in the Rocky Mountains, Evelyn King joins her Nansusequa neighbors during a buffalo hunt only to find her party ambushed by a gang of scalp hunters who are cutting a violent swath toward New Mexico territory.

When a 17-year-old track star turns up mangled and dead on the switchback road by the Crescent Hotel, his poker crew grows suspicious of one another. Ebur, a retired cowboy, finds himself in the middle of a once-trustworthy group who all knew and loved Brady. Or did they? And can he trust them if they think he killed the boy? Covering the broad swatch of lifestyles and struggles in off-peak Eureka Springs, Wilderness asks hard questions about retired men and those who try to tame them.

What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.

When Artemis Borke opens a trading post in Nate King's territory, both settlers and Shoshone have access to goods and supplies. But Borke also begins to sell liquor, which has severe consequences for the Shoshone warriors - even more so when bloodthirsty Crows target the village.

On one of the coldest nights in Minnesota history, the difference between life and death is literally the blink of an eye for Phil Broker, until recently St. Paul's most successful undercover cop. That blink will convey the urgent warning of a comatose man who knows the dark truth binding Broker to a remarkable cast of characters: a weary anesthesiologist, a brilliant surgeon, a wealthy novelist, his ex-wife (a reformed exotic dancer), and her unrepentant pimp.

A plague has devastated the land. Bloodthirsty creatures stalk the night. A loose band of survivors fight for their lives. Can they make it through? And what will become of them if they do?

After rescuing Solomon Cain from an Indian death trap, mountain man Nathanial King is left stranded by the ungrateful man in the wilderness, where he hooks up with a Ute brave who is determined to kill Cain.

Every wildfire season cloaks rural Carbon, Oregon, in smoke. This summer, all it takes is one strike of lightning for the best of friends to turn to desperate acts to make it out alive. When the latest blaze jumps a firebreak, experienced whitewater rafting guide Kristina “True” Truitt has reason to worry. Her best friend, fire battalion chief Melissa Bishop, is on the front lines. But she and Mel have a side gig vying for attention: a dangerous and illegal money drop on the banks of the wild Outlaw River—directly in the path of the fire and right under the noses of the feds.

Thirteen-year-old Justin Cody is failing two classes and is addicted to texting and playing video games. Forced to take a wilderness canoe trip in Canada with his Grandpa Henry, Cody is thrust into a race for survival when the two discover a top-secret drone developed by the US military. Grandpa Henry is kidnapped, and Justin, who knows nothing about canoeing and camping, must canoe alone to a distant lake that promises rescue.

Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin's been taken, or if she's even alive. The only clue to both her aunt's disappearance and her father's murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book - an item unheard of in her illiterate society.

In the winter of 1966, Katherine Reid moves to an isolated cabin deep in Georgia's Appalachian Mountains. There, with little more than a sleeping bag, a tin plate, and a loaded gun, she plans to spend her time in peaceful solitude. But one day Katherine realizes the woods are not empty, and she is not alone. Someone else is near, observing her every move.

Letitia holds nothing more dear than the papers that prove she is no longer a slave. They may not cause white folks to treat her like a human being, but at least they show she is free. She trusts in those words she cannot read - as she is beginning to trust in Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant cattleman who wants her to come west with him.

Eliza Brooks’s worst nightmare has come true—her father is missing. Now she’ll do anything to find him, even if it means taking a chance on who she must trust. But once aboard the steamship bound for San Diego—her father’s last known whereabouts—she finds herself in far more danger than she imagined.

What is a time? Is it a life? Is it a series of lives? It is the day of the devil's earth; and the Great Red Dragon is on the hunt for the illusive woman that could bring about the end of its reign. Concealing time and history as faith and science collide, God's plan takes form.

1861, Donegal, Ireland. Ten years ago Declan Conaghan’s father died in the Great Famine, and since then, Declan has kept his promise to keep his family out of the workhouse. But all that is threatened with the arrival of new landlord, John Adair. Adair is quick to cause trouble and fear among his tenants. When he turns them off his land, Declan has no option but to break his promise. Declan is in despair until he receives a letter from America offering him the chance of a new life and salvation for his family. But it would mean signing up to the US Army and fighting for Lincoln.

Algren’s classic 1947 short story collection is the pure vein Algren would mine for all his subsequent novels and stories. The stories in this collection are literary triumphs that “don’t fade away.” Among the stories included here are “A Bottle of Milk for Mother”, about a Chicago youth being cornered for a murder, and “The Face on the Barrome Floor”, in which a legless man pummels another man nearly to death - the seeds that would grow into the novel Never Come Morning.

Faith Allen went to live with her aunt and uncle in the Kentucky mountains after her parents died. They hadn’t been cruel, but they hadn’t been loving and kind, either; and they expected her to work hard. When their son strikes it rich in the California gold rush, they pack up to head to California via the Oregon Trail.

Robert Parker ventures into the vast unknown to study new species of plant and animals in the name of science. And he's thrilled when a young half-breed named Zach King invites him back to his secluded valley in the Rocky Mountains - a valley teeming with wildlife that no naturalist has ever explored. But Parker's about to find out he's not the only newcomer.